College Mechanical Workshops

There are two mechanical workshops in the College:  one in Harrison and the other in Physics. Both workshops have similar facilities, although the Physics workshop is smaller in size and can only be used by mechanical engineers and is not open to students or academics.

The role of the workshops is to help with the design, development and construction of a wide range of mechanical apparatus to support teaching and research, using conventional manufacturing machinery.

Equipment and machinery

Our workshops are equipped with a wide range of machines to enable the manufacture of mechanical apparatus for teaching and research:-

Milling

Horizontal and vertical milling machines. Some machines are fitted with a digital readout;

Turning

A range of centre lathes with a swing over bed of up to 430mm and a quality tool room lathe with precision digital readout;

Drilling

Large radial drill, pedestal drills and a high speed drill;

Sheet Metalwork

Guillotine, folder, fly-press and hand operated bending rolls (up to 1200mm width);

Welding

Tig, arc and oxyacetylene;

Bandsaw

This is equipped with a 900mm throat capacity;

Saws

Circular cut-off saw and Diamond cut-off saw;

Grinding

Surface and Universal Grinding facilities;

Soldering

Hard / Soft Soldering.

Access

Access to the workshops is subject to departmental requirements, which may wish to make use of this facility.

Booking the workshops

The mechanical workshops cannot be used unsupervised, if you do want to use the facilities, please contact the Workshops on either ext 4078 or 6519. 

Submitting a Job

With the implementation of Technical Services a new system for submitting jobs to the mechanical workshops has been created.  This will ensure that all jobs can be submitted at any time, from anywhere, and that they are logged, accounted for and technician time and materials are correctly charged.

Anyone requesting a job through the workshops should complete the online form with all the relevant information and description the job.  The job will sit in a virtual queue and be directed to an appropriately skilled technician (prioritised by submission date) when workload allows.

Important safety regulations

The University complies with Health and Safety Regulations. Please read the Mechanical Workshop Safety Regs and Fire Marshall Manual to identify your Fire Marshall and escape route before using any of our workshops.